FAMILIES OF THE PICKFORD AREA |
|
Mr. and Mrs. William Ralph moved to Stirlingville in 1894. Mrs. Ralph was the former Margaret Carr. They had been living in Joliet,Province of Quebec, Canada, prior to their move to Stirlingville. The Ralphs had four children when they moved here, ELIZA, WILLIAIM, JAMES, and FRED. Two more children were born to them in this country, but died when small.
They came as far as the Canadian Soo on a train and hired a horse-drawn cab in the American Soo to take them to their new home. They had lunch that day with the McDonald family five miles north of Pickford. That farm is now owned by William Wonnacott.
Mr. Ralph bought his farm from James Murphy and farmed for about 45 years until he retired and moved to the Soo to live with his son, Fred.
Tom Gray was the first settler in Stirlingville and was a cousin of Mrs. Ralph.
Philip Raynard was bom in 1805 in Ireland. He passed away Aug. 12, 1884, in Perth County, Ontario. He married Frances Holland who was born in 1821 in Ireland and passed away July 8, 1906. She was buried beside her husband in Zion Cemetery near St. Mary's, Ontario. They had 8 children: John, Reuben, George, Maria, Henry, Frances, Philip, and Wesley. Many of the Raynards stayed in Canada, while others went to different parts of this country. George, Henry, and Philip came to the States.
George was born Sept. 17, 1847, in Perth County, Ontario, and went to Iowa in his early manhood where he spent 7 years. He came to Pickford Township in May, 1877, and settled on land three and one-half miles north of the village of Pickford, which he homesteaded. He built a cabin on the southeast corner of the farm. Later, he built a log house and other buildings on the northwest part of the farm near the highway running to the Soo. In 1892 he replaced the log house with a frame house which is still in use. On Sept. 14, 1881, he married Margaret Hill (daughter of David Hill and Helen Watt). She was born July 19, 1856, at Goderich, Ontario. George was a successful farmer and a devout Methodist. Before a church was built, religious services were held in his home. To this couple were born four children: Fannie, David, George, and Ellen. They moved to the village of Pickford in 1920 when he sold his farm to his son, George. George, Sr., died Sept. 17, 1933, and Mrs. Raynard on April 16, 1948. They are buried in Bethel Cemetery.
FANNlE married Walter Fletcher, who with his sons operated a hardware store in the Soo. Fannie remembered her father telling about his boyhood near St. Mary's, Ontario, and his mother walking almost four miles to town with her basket of eggs and butter to sell or exchange for supplies. He also said she made the best apple dumplings he had ever eaten.
DAVID married Hazel Grey and went to Saskatchewan, Canada, where he homesteaded a farm.
GEORGE H. purchased the farm from his father in 1920. He married Irene Parker and they had two children, Isabel and William. Isabel married Paul Maynard and is deceased. Williar married Norma Gough and took over the operation of the farm in 1958. They have two sons, Paul and Alan which makes the four generation of Raynards to live on this farm. ln1967 they purchased the Coffee Nook Restaurant and in 1971 opened an eight-unit motel in connection with the restaurant. They changed the name to "The Village Inn." In the fall of 1971 they added a dining room and enlarged the kitchen.
GRACE ELLEN married Cecil Cottle and lives on a farm west of Pickford. They sold the farm to a nephew, Elliott Cottle, retaining their home. They spend their winters in Like Wales, Fiorida. They had threevchildren, Ephraim, Norma, and Verna. Ephraim married Margaret Beacom and they have two sons, Donald and Gary. They live on a farm west of Pickford. Norma married Neil Music and lives in Florida. Verna married Earl Campbell and lives in Sault Ste. Marie.
Henry Raynard came to Pickford a few years after George. He wasv born Oct. 7, 1851, in Perth County, Ontario, and died in 1933 at Pickford. He married Mary Ellen Campbell (daughtet of Robert Campbell) Sept. 14, 1881, in Sault Ste. Marie. They had 9 children: Ellen, Maude, Russell, Isabelle John, James, Edna, Edward, and Jeanette. Edward, Edna, and Jeanette ate the only ones living. Henry settled on a farm two miles south and one mile east of Pickford. When Henry retired ftom farming his farm was purchased and operated by his son, John.
ELLEN married James Gough and is deceased.
MAUDE married Barney McPhillip and is deceased.
ISABELLE married William Hall and is deceased. RUSSELL and JAMES are both deceased.
JOHN was born Sept. 20, 1888, and married Dolly Cotton (daughter of Alfred Cotton and Mae Matilda Thomas) of Stalwart, in 1911. Dolly was bbrn Sept. 18, 1894. They had two children: Mary Matilda and William John.
Mary Matilda: married Lester Huyck and lives four miles south of Pickford. William John (deceased) married Effie Hancock and they had one daughter, Arlene.
JOHN died Feb. 17, 1945. After his death, the farm was sold out of the Raynard family.
EDNA married Earl Travis and is still living. EDWARD and JEANETTE are both living.
Philip Raynard never married, so after his death, his farm became the property of his nephew, John Raynard, and so is still owned by a Raynard. Tbis farm was 5 miles south of Pickford.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Reynolds moved to Stalwart from Sptingfield, Massachusetts, in the year 1870. Mrs. Reynolds was the former Rachel Cart. They heard that there was rich land to be homesteaded in this part of the country.
They lived on the Sand Ridge, two miles east of Stalwart and then they bought the Mosher homestead where they remained on the Stalwart Corner until Mr. Reynolds' death in 1930. It was previously called Reynolds Corners. The closest store was in Stirlingville and Mrs. Reynolds marketed her eggs and butter there by traveling on horseback.
Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds had a family of 13 children, four of whom are stiill living: Mrs. Emily Hart and Wilbert Reynolds of Sault Ste. Marie; Della of Flint; and Mrs. Ruth Killips who lived in Sault Ste. Marie until she moved to California several years age to live with her son. Mrs. Reynolds died in 1941.
ROBERT G. ROE, Sr. was born Oct. 28, 1845 in County Carlo, Ireland. He was the son of John Roe (1808-1881) and Eliza Poole Roe (1808-1868) who was born in Coon, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Eliza was the daughter of Thomas (1751-1819) and Jane Poole whose house was home to Methodist Missionaries in Ireland for more than half a century. In the early 1850's John and Eliza came to Hewick, Ontario, Canada. Their eight sons were ROBERT, THOMAS, HENRY, WILLIAM, RICHARD, JAMES, JOHN and SAMUEL.
ROBERT G. ROE (1845-1921) married Anne Elizabeth Wallace (1854-1942), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wallace who had come to Gray County, Ontario from Scotland.
ROBERT G. and A. Elizabeth's children were: Thomas John (1875-1963); Elizabeth Jane (1877-1884); Martha May (1879-1884); Emily Olivia (1881-1884); (these three sisters died in the diphtheria epidemic of 1884, Thomas John had it but recovered).
Elizabeth Olivia (1877-1884) married Garfield Graham and their children are Helen, who married Merlin Lyons and has two sons, Graham and Ted., they live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Clayton married Rita McCarthy and lives in Flint, Michigan.
Robert George Roe, Sr., (1889-1970) married Hulda Pennington (1893-1970). Their children are EveIyn who married Donald MacKenzie and lives in St. Clair Shores, Michigan; Jean married Reid Crawford, has three sons, Donald*, married Rose Ann Weston and has a son Donald R., Jr,** Richard and Scott*, they live north of Pickford. Helen who married Jack McLean with children, Nancy, Carol and Tommy*, live in Clawson, Michigan. Twins Morris of Pickford and Willis of Steubing, their children are, Vicki, Glenn, Bobby and Janet*, they live in St. Francis, Wisconsin.
William Poole Roe married Isabella Homes (1892-1972). Their children are Olive who married Willis Galer and they have two children, Linda* (Mrs. David Thompson) has two children, Candace and Sherri**, and Rodney*; Keith who married Emma Lou Johnson and has a stepson Mike, and children, Inga Lou and Brian Keith and lives in Matshall Earl who married Dorothy Stryker with children, Kathy, Karen, Bonny, Barbara, Beverly, David and Kenny* and who live in Cincinnati, Ohio: Harry who married Arville Weller and have two sons, Gary and James* and lives in Fort Myers, Florida; Dale who married Jeanne Brown whose children are Ruth Ann, Daniel, Mark, Debra and Michael* and who live in Lansing, Michigan.
Harry Roe (1896-1931) married Mary McClelland. Their son James and wife Peggy have three children, Bob, Sherry, and Ann*.
William Henry and Rachel Roe came here from Huron County, Ontario, in July, 1885, that was shortly after their marriage, but W. H. had been in the "Michigan Country" several years prior to 1885.
He came first while still in his teens, getting off a boat in St. Ignace, walking all the way to the Sault, and walking back again to where old Charley Pickford and a half dozen other sturdy Canadian families were homesteading land. The Roe farm, however, was not homesteaded. It was purchased outright from the railroad by W. H.'s father, Richard Roe, on the plea of his uncle, Sam Roe, who was the very first of the Roe family to set foot in Chippewa County. (See Roe History on previous pages.)
That first winter of 1882-83, a young William Henry worked for the Moiles Brothers, who had a lumber camp at Johnson's Hill about 9 miles north of what is now Pickford. His wages were $23 per month and board, and that winter the Moiles crew produced 7,000,000 board feet of logs. The logs were banked along the Munuscong River and in the spring of 1883 were driven down the swollen river to Mud Lake, from there, being rafted to the Moiles Brothers' new mill at DeTour.
Two years later, W. H. took time off to return to Canada, remaining there just long enough to marry Rachel Carr, after which the two of them began the return trip. W. H. found the second trip into Michigan, like the first one, tough going all way. In July 1885, however, he had Rachel by his side and that seemed to make things easier.
They landed in the Soo on a boat called The United Empire. After buying some supplies, including dishes, and acquiring two cows, they started out on the old Mackinac Trail, walking every step of the way, and driving the cattle ahead of them. It required two full days to make the trip, so they remained overnight in the area now called Donaldson.
When finally they arrived at what was to be their new home, they moved into a 12 x 18 shack which had been built and occupied some years earlier by a man named Neil McInnis, who had been lumbering in the area. It had no windows and was a poor shelter at best. The roof leaked and the wind whistled through the logs and mosquitoes were everywhere.
All of the nice new dishes W. H. and Rachel had purchased in the Soo had fallen and broken just as they completed the long 20-mile walk, and W. H., having only fifty cents to his name, could not afford to buy more. So with makeshift dishes, plus a few they borrowed from W.H.'s, older brother, George, who was starting a farm nearby, he and Rachel started housekeeping. They lived in the tiny shanty for 6 months, but the bitter cold of that first winter was too much for them. They moved into a house with George, across the road, and lived there until W. H. had completed a new 16 x 24 foot home.
Farming in those days generally started with lumbering, because trees had to be removed to make way for wheat and oats and flax. This was backbreaking work, but it brought a little money, because the lumbering moguls, then at the peak of production in Upper Michigan, were ever ready to purchase a man's logs at their price. So foot by foot, and acre by acre, W. H. toiled to clear that portion of his land he had to farm. Everyone was poor in those days, but W. H. managed, somehow, to buy a couple of steers and break them in as an ox team. He couldn't afford to buy full-grown oxen. He'd use the oxen to help him clear land and once in a while he'd drive them to town for supplies.
"It was not at all unusual," Mr. Roe said, "to see a half dozen or more ox teams on the streets of Pickford. They were awfully useful critters in those days. Of course, many a time, when I didn't have the oxen, I'd walk to Pickford, or even to the Soo, and carry supplies home on my back."
"Transpottation? Well, yes, there was a boat line that came down the St. Mary's from the Soo, then up the Munuscong to a place called Jolly's Landing at what is now Stirlingville. A man named Bill Stirling operated the boat, with his wife as helmsman. They had a small store at Stirlingville."
"Many of the settlers, myself included, used that boat from time to time, to bring in supplies, then lugged them on our back from Stirlingville. So every pound we brought in involved a lot of footwork and muscle."
Farming, of course, was limited to the fairer months of the year. Winter times, W. H. like the others struggling to carve farms out of forests, labored in logs and lumber. For four consecutive winters, beginning during the winter of 1886-87, W. H. worked for the Haynes outfit at Prentiss Bay, which then was a flourishing sawmill community.
He walked from Pickford to Prentiss Bay in the late fall, and home again in the late spring just in time to begin the annual summer task of clearing more land, planting a few crops, or cutting and peeling cedar posts for the ever-hungry post market.
During those never-ending winters, with their short days and almost unbearably long nights, Rachel Roe remained alone in the little house north of Pickford, tending the oxen, milking the two cows, and doing other chores incidental to holding an embryonic farm together in the winter times. When the wind howled too mournfully or loneliness engulfed her - which often happened - she wrapped an extra coat about her and visited with her husband's people across the way, or with her brothers, Hugh and John Carr, and their wives, who lived nearby.
When the children started coming (there were to be 10 boys and 1 girl) Rachel Roe had company during the long winter months when W. H. was away. That lightened her loneliness, but it greatly increased her responsibilities. So her winter vigil required a brand of courage equal to that shown by any of the early settlers.
And what about the other early settlers? Well, scattered thinly about Pickford, there were families which had preceded the Roes to Michigan by a few years. They all came from Canada, some of them homesteading, some of them, like the Roes, purchasing. They were neighbors with whom Rachel Roe had much in common, but Pickford seemed awfully far away and she saw very little of them.
There was, to start with, old Charley Pickford, with his flowing beard, who had opened a store and established a post office, and after whom the tiny cluster of frame buildings fronting on muddy streets was named. And there was Pat Taylor, the Goughs, the Greens, the Millers, the Cleggs, the Raynards, the Bests, the Wilsons, the O'Neils, the Harrisons, and the Ryes. To the south were the Kennedys and to the southwest, the Blairs and Beacoms.
There were others, of course, but that paints the picture: a few families scattered over what then represented a wide area, and all intent upon building a home in an untried wilderness. Some ten or twelve miles due south, the waters of mighty Lake Huron splashed against the shores of Les Cheneaux's many islands, which even then were bidding to become summer havens.
But W. H. and Rachel Roe, busy building a farm and raising a family to the north and west of town, had little time for travel or summer pleasures. The Roes had a hard row to hoe. The eleven children, all except two, were raised to maturity.
WELDON, who was with the Chrysler organization in Detroit, died in 1970.
HILTON operated a farm, but is now retired and lives two miles north of Pickford. He married Grace Sterling (deceased). Their children are Patricia, Jane, Jack, Donald, Mason, and Emily. A number of years after Grace's death, Hilton married Mrs. Etta Rowse Warner. She died in 1971. Patricia married Maitland Pennington and their children are Ronald, Marsha, Dennis, and Joann. Jane married Fred (Elwin) Smith of Rudyard and their children are David, Darlene, Pamela, James, and Marlene. Jack married Edna Pennington. He is in the real estate business and lives north of Pickford. Their children are James or Cedarville, who married Marie Harrison and has three children: Jim, Steven, and Christopher; Roger, who married Patricia Belinski; and Francis who married Cindy Donnelly. Donald lives in Ocala, Florida. Emily (Mrs. Joe Foley) lives in New York. Mason is deceased.
FORD married Lottie Peffers and was in the hardware business in Rudyard until his death in 1956. Their two sons are Glen and Loy. Glen is Cashier in the Sault Savings Bank in Sault Ste. Marie. Loy and his mother operated the hardware store until 1965 when they closed it. Lottie then moved to the Sault.
BERT was a carpenter in Ypsilanti for a number of years, then operated a gift shop at Whitmore Lake. He was married to Ethel Beacom. Their children are Lyle and Jean. A number of years after Ethel's death, he married Pearl Harper Smith. He is now retired and lives east of Barbeau.
SAM married Lily Jarvie and was a merchant in Sault Ste. Marie until his death in 1969.
CLEVELAND (deceased 1967) was a superintendent of schools in a school near Detroit, as was MERLIN, who retired in 1970.
GEORGE was a surveyor for Chippewa County Road Commission until his retirement in 1971.He married Delphina Stevenson.
BERTHA, the only daughter, married Dr. M. N. Hess (deceased), a foot specialist of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. They had one son, Carl, Superintendent of Redford Township School.
Adam Roe, one of W. H. Roe's brothers, was a blacksmith in Pickford. He married Myrtle Crawford. After her death Adam married Effie Blair. They are all deceased now. George Roe was another brother of William Henry Roe.
Sam married Lily Jarvie. They were in business in Pickford and later in Sault Ste. Marie. Sam died in 1969 and Lily lives in the Soo. Their children are: Betty, Avis, Nancy and Dean. Betty is married and lives in Cleveland; Avis is married and lives in Baltimore, Maryland; Nancy (Mrs. John McKay) lives in Sault Ste. Marie; Dean married Marjean Smith and they live on his grandfather (William Henry) Roe's farm. Their children are: Mark, Todd, Charlys, Meta Lee, and Michalanne.
John Worden Rowse was born in 1844 in Cornwall, England, and married Hannah Grose in 1871 in Plymouth, England. They had 7 children: Mary Grose Rowse (the only child born in England), Annie, Augusta Mae, Alfred George, Jane Louise, Etta Fannie, and John Worden. The family emigrated to the United States in the late 1880's, going first to Pennsylvania, then later to the Pickford area. Mr. Rowse homesteaded a farm in Chippewa County. In the early pioneer days, he carried the mail from Pickford to St. Ignace once a week by horseback. The last Rowse farm was at the present location of Huyck Poultry Farm, two miles north of Pickford.
MARY ROWSE never manied. She lived at home with her parents until her death in 1960.
ANNIE married Ashton Roe who was a farmer in Chippewa County and had one son, Clifford. He married Ann Wonnacott. Their children are Fern, Jay, Vern and Donald. They now live on the family homestead.
AUGUSTA MAE married Isaac David (LD.) MacDonald in 1895. They had six children: Colette, Howard, Alfred (died in infancy), Irene, Etta, and Burnett (Bud). Colette married Henry Hermann and they had four childrn: Shirley, Henry, Jr., Donald, and Larry. Howard married Della Cotner; they had no children. His second wife, Lois Armstrong, and he have three children, Hollis, Davis, and Victoria. Irene never married. Etta married J. Norman Loye and they have lived in Chippewa County most of their married life. They have one daughter, Norma. Burnett owned a retail lumber yard in Rudyard until 1969 when it burned to the ground. He was married to Della Howland and they had one son, Robert. He later married Josephine Donnelly and they have one adopted daughter, Diane.
ALFRED GEORGE ROWSE married Lillian MacKenzie. They farmed in the Pickford area and later moved to the Soo where he worked as a carpenter. Their three children are Velma, Glen, and Opal. Velma married Michael Cannon and their two children areWarren and Jane. Glen married Gertrude Hilderly and they now live in California and have one daughter, Glenda. Opal married Gerald VerDeaux and had one son, Jerry. Later she married Ralph Neimi and they had a son, Ronald. She is now married to Edward Hoeft and lives in Sault Ste. Marie.
JANE LOUISE ROWSE died at the age of 19.
ETTA FANNY ROWSE married Lorne Warner. They had three children, Maxine, Murdena, and Lorna. She later married James Hilton Roe. She died in September, 1971.
JOHN WORDEN ROWSE married Mildred Gough. They lived on the Rowse farm north of Pickford and both are deceased.
William Rutledge, a pioneer homesteader in Marquette Township, was born in Tyrone, Ireland, in 1830. He emigrated to Goderich, Ontario, with his parents and here married Betsy Ross in 1861. In 1882 he and his family, except one son, John Thomas, moved to Pickford and homesteaded 80 acres south of the Blairville School in the same section. They were the parents of 7 children.
JAMES ROBERT came to Marquette Township and homesteaded 80 acres next to his father, but when he became ill with consumption, he returned to Goderich where he died.
ESSIE stayed in Goderich and married John Million.
MARY JANE married William Ross who owned the the Brown farm where Denzil Huyck now lives. But soon after their marriage, they moved to Lowell, Michigan, where they have since died.
MATILDA and MARGARET never married. After their father's death in 1910, they moved to the village and lived in the home now occupied by the Marvin McDonald family. Matilda was a seamstress and made beautiful ladies clothing for years. She was a ditector on the Pickford Fair Board. Margaret was a cook and cooked a number of tourist seasons at the Cedar Inn Hotel in Cedarville, Michigan. They were active members of the Pickford Methodist Church.
JOHN THOMAS did not move to Pickford with his parents. He remained in Goderich with an uncle and aunt, Mr. nd Mrs. William Ross, to finish his schooling. He was preparing to be a school teacher, but this goal was never achieved. He, too, came to Pickford in 1890. He took up a homestead three and one-half miles west of Clifford Taylor's (now John Kronemeyer's) farm. In 1895 he married Harriet Leach. Three sons, Leonard (deceased), Elmer, still in Pickford, and Ross, of Lyons, Illinois, were born on this homestead.
John Thomas moved to the village in 1901. He built the house which is now empty and is owned by Harvey Peffers next to the Ivan Leach residence. Hilda Kinnee of Kingsford, Michigan, the late Marie Fraser of St. Ignace, and Esther Rutledge of Grand Rapids, were born in this house. During this time he was a machinery salesman for V. L. Lipsett. This home was sold and he built the house north of the county garage on M-129 where Florence Hudson once lived and which has now been torn down to make room for the Village Inn Motel. Marjorie Mattson and Ruby Murphy Alexander were born here. When the two eldest boys, Leonard and Elmer, were able to assist, he built homes. He built the Pickford Orange Hall which housed Rye Implement and has since been torn down, the V. L. Lipsett house (now owned by William Becks), the Henry Garbe home west of the Methodist Church now owned by Art Reich, and the P. E. Taylor residence now owned by Jaynce Leach.
A few years after John Thomas' father died in 1910, John moved to the farm originally homesteaded. He built a new home there and lived in it, farmed a little, and stayed with his trade. In 1944 he moved to Pickford and built one more home, where Mrs. Sarah Cowell now lives. But while working on this house, he suffered a paralytic stroke. He never fully recovered and died in April, 1947. Mr. Rutledge was active in Marquette Townsbip affairs. He served on the board of review, was township clerk and township treasurer.
Leonard married Margaret Hill and they had 9 children, Glen dying at the age of four. Arla Jean married Reg:inald Wilson and has five children: Marsha*, who is married to Milton Sutton, and has one child, Joanne, Tom, Jim, and Martin* at home. Arla Jean is employed at the Pickford School and lives on the former Henry Clegg farm one mile south of Pickford. Maly Lynn married Vern Huyck and has four children: Bob* who married Beverly Story and lives north of Pickford; and has a daughter, Kelly Ann; Sandra* who married Dan Inglis has a daughter Danielle Lynn; and Cheri and Dave* still at home. Jim Rutledge married Belva Cottle and lives in Pickford. Their children are Gary, Ronnie, Roger, and Leanne*. Jim followed his father's and grandfather's trade as a builder-contractor and is rurrently employed by the Sault Ste. Marie Schools as a teacher of building to high school students. Marjorie married Stanley Schmitigal and has three children, Linda, Lisa, and Christopher*. Glenda married Duane Brown and they have four children: Danny, David, Pat, and Michael*. They live in Pickford and she works at the War Memorial Hospital as a nurse. Jack married Brenda Sims and they have two daughters, Jacqui and Kata Lee*. They live in Pickford and Jack is employed at the Cedarville Limestone Quarry. Bill married Susie Nye and lives in Cedarville. Lauretta married Glenn Atkins and has four children: Bill, Kenny, Richard, and Jeannie*. They live in Barbeau.
Elmer married the former Gladys Wise and is now retired. They lived on the homestead farm until 1971 when they sold it and moved into town. Their daughter, Gloria, is married to Harry Smith and lives on the old Blairville School property. They have two daughters at L.S.S.C., Cathy and Cindy*, and a son, Chris*, attending Pickford School.
Ross, who was a barber, married Alvina Oldenburg. He is retired and lived in Lyons, Illinois until very recently. They have two girls, Mae and Jean, and six grandchildren.
Hilda married William Kinnee and lives in Kingsford Heights, Michigan. They have three children, Jerry, Arvid, and Gail, several grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Marie was married to Dan Fraser and had four children: Armalean, Don, Marjorie Ann, and Lane and several grandchildren. She is deceased.
Esther never married and lives in Grand Rapids where she will be retired soon from Michigan Trust.
Mariorie married William Mattson and lives in the Sault. They have two children, Elva Mattson Quinn and Bill.
Ruby is married to C. R. Alexander and lives in Guam where he is stationed. She has one daughter, Mary.
An account of Chippewa County's Richard Rye runs very much like the book of Genesis from the Bible. While the Genesis account covers the genealogy from Adam to the death of Joseph, 2,369 years, the Rye account is recorded only from 1777 and is still very much in progress.
Between 400 and 500 of Richard Rye's 713 descendants converged on Kinross on a Sunday in July, 1955, in what is believed to be one of the largest family reunions ever staged in the United States. Between 300 and 400 Chippewa County residents belong to the Rye Clan.
The Ryes are located from coast to coast in the United States and in three foreign countries. The largest contingent of the family is found right here in Chippewa County with nearly everyone and his brother related to the family in Pickford where the latgest single segment is found.
Six generations of the family have lived in this area since Great Grandfather Richard Rye, who lived in Canada, produced 15 children. The oldest living member of the family is Mrs. Mattha Hughes of Pickford she is 88 years old. Her birth date is September 14, 1884.
At the time of the Rye Memorial Reunion there were 10 sets of twins in the family. One of Richard's daughters, Ellen, was the mother, grandmother, great grandmother of twins.
Chippewa County Ryes know the history of the family back to Joseph Rye, Richard's father. Joseph lived in England and Richard lived in Ontario and later in Pickford. Richard had 15 children, 14 of whom lived here in the U. S. and the family has been represented in the Chippewa County area since that time.
Joseph Rye was born in 1777 in Go Beck Parish, Suffolk Shire, England. He married Maria Dove and to them were born 11 children, two of whom remained in England, two went to Australia, and seven went to Canada with their parents in 1834. Joseph's and Maria's children were: Mary, Joe, Harry, David, Jessie, Eliza, Betsy, Emer, Rachel, Ellen, and Richard. Harry, David, Jessie and Eliza stayed in England.
Of the 11 children, Richard was the youngest. He married Sarah Rapson about 1853 and they had 15 children. The oldest child lived only one year, while the life span of the surviving 14 children was exactly 100 years. Ellen Hancock was born in 1855 and George Rye, the last surviving member of that generation died April 1, 1955.
The Richard Rye family settled on a farm on the Huron Road near Clinton, Ontario. In May, 1879, five months after the death of his wife, Richard came to Sault Ste. Marie in search of land in the Pickford area.
He located desirable land in Township 43RI W and returned to Clinton, Ontario, to get his family. He returned to Pickford with his family and his team of horses, a wagon, some machinery (including the first threshing machine in this area), a few head of cattle. He headed south from Sault Ste. Marie on the old Mackinac Trail. They came as far as Dan Connley's the first day. Connley's lived near the Mackinac Trail on the Blueberry Plains (which is now Kincheloe Air Force Base). The Rye family stayed at Connley's overnight, then traveled on over the sand trail to the "Four Corners which is now called Pickford. They lived in a little log cabin on the four corners of Pickford until a log cabin could be built on his claim.
Richard Rye was one of the Township's first officers and helped to organize the fitst school and church in Pickford. He was a land surveyor, justice of the peace, and township clerk, school board member and farmer.
13 of the 15 children (the last of whom, George, died April 1, 1955) all lived at one time in the Pickford area. They, with their spouses, all played a part in settling this area where the largest segment of the family is still located.
The 15 children and their occupations were as follows: SARA, died at one year. ELLEN married John Hancock who farmed near Pickford. FREDERICK married Eliza MacDonald and farmed near Pickford. SAMUEL J. was the first blacksmith in the Soo and worked on the Weltzel Locks. He married Dinah Hogarth and lived in the Soo. MARY RYE married Alfred Asquith who operated an apple evaporator. He owned a livery stable in Canada. JAMES married Susan Brownlee, owned the Soo Sand and Gravel Co., and lived in the Soo. ELIZA RYE married Isaac MacDonald and lived in Pickford. He was a farmer township clerk and overseer. HILLARY married Janet Watson and was a farmer in the Pickford area; DAVID married Amanda Fleming, farmed, owned a grocery and meat market in Pickford and was also a member of the Pickford Board of Education for 24 years, living near Pickford. MARTHA married Thomas Morrison, a farmer, lay minister, township supervisor, clerk, and who served on the Board of Education 40 years. RUTH RYE married John Sterling, a farmer and township officer, who lived near Pickford. RICHARD, JR., died as a boy. GEORGE married Margaret McDonald and farmed on the old home place. ALBERT married Mildred Haines and farmed near Pickford. HANNAH married James Watson, a Pickford merchant and lived in Pickford.
FREDERICK and Eliza had five children: Modelle, Eva, Howard, Hilda and Flossie. Modelle married Frank Roberts and lives in Swift Current, Sask. and Arizona. They have one son, Howard Stanley Roberts who married Angnes Shirley and their children are Lyle, Barry, Shirley andLois.* Eva married Otto Graham and both are deceased. Their children are Chalta, Duane and Raeone. Chalta married Lamar Hillock and their children are Nyla, Christine, Nolan and Myron *. Duane married Kathleen Taylor and they have five sons: Gary, Thomas, Daniel, David and Raeone married James Robbins and their children are Scott, Betsy Jo, Mark and David*. Howard married Edna Wilke and had one daughter, Virgene. Virgene married Ronald Stevenson and their children are Wendy and Shon*. After Edna's death Howard married Bertha Wonnacott and they live in Pickford. Their children are Beverly (Mrs. Nyla Waybrant) of Cedarville whose children er are Mitzie, Sharyll, Nyla, Delaine and Nyle, Jr.* Avis (Mrs. Freddie David) has two children, Penny and Richard Howard Vincent, Jr., married Judy Spence and has two sons, Howard Vincent,III and Joseph Edgars. Bonnie Kay lives in Penn. Hilda married Arthur Reich and they live in Pickford. Their children are Donajean Ann and Dale Rye. Donajeanl married Clyde Cross and their children are Charles Ronald, Karen Ann (deceased) and Patti Jo. Dale married Leda Hillock and they have seven children.. Janice Lee, Randall Dale, Martin Lorne, Gregory Arthur, Carl William and Carla Jean (twins), and Landa Dee*. Flossie married Carlton Shanks. They have three children: Marvin married Ruth Clegg and their children are Paula, Marsha and Kenneth*; Roger married Kay Ann Cutting and their children are Michelle Lou, Michael Lewis and Monty Odell*; Mary Suellyn married Glen Rye and their children are Vaughn and Zackary.
HILLARY and Janet Watson Rye had seven children, Joseph, Isaac, Mervin, Olive, Ethel and Leonard (twins) and Albert. Joseph married Cora Harrison (deceased) and they had three daughters, Violet, Lois and Deloris (twins). Violet married Otto Stevenson,they have two sons,Ted and Lyle* Ted married Carolyn Macklin and they have three daughter, Susie, Laurie and Janet and one son, Ted, Jr.** Lyle married Dianne Harr and they have one son,Travis**. They live in Philadelphia. Deloris married Don Nettleton and they have five children. Gerry* married Dianne Monroe and have two children, Bryan and Krista. They live in DeTour. Barbara* married Ted McGlinch and they have one son, BradleyJames**.Lois married Willard Girvin and they had one daughter, Coreen* who married Wm.Pauley and has two children, Brandilyn and Tracy**. Isaac married Sara Crawford and has three children, Donald, Luella, and Barbara. Donald married Donna Rowan and has five children, Bruce, Tom, Denny, Sally J. and Robert*, all at home. Luella married Mike Lakick and they have three children, David, Jean and Karen*. They live in Milwaukee. Barbara married Richard Mackie and has four children, Bryan, Alan, Leann and Lorelyn*. They live in Bozman, Montana. Mervin (deceased) married Margaret Nickleson and they had three daughters, Betty Jean, Louise and Cleo. All live in California. Olive married Clifford Taylor and has three children, Verne (deceased); Kathleen married Duane Graham and has five sons, Gary, Tom, Danny, David and Douglas* and they live in the Soo. John married Cynthia Cox and has two children, Cheryl and Chris*. They live in Alpena. Leonard married Dorothy Smith and has one son, Glen and one daughter, Carol, Glen married Mary Sue Shanks and they have two sons, Vaughn and Zachary* at home. Carol marri~john Duncan and has one daughter, Tammy and two sons, Kurt and David*,at home. Ethel married Fred Wallis. Tr. and had two dauehters and two sons. Ardith married Dale Bawks and they have four children, Roger, Rhonda, Joanie and Janet*. All at home.Beth married Jim Quinnell and they have three children, Pamela, Jacqueline and Michael* at home. Billy married Carol Nartharius and has five children, Jana, Bryce, Amy, Darrin and Julia* all at home. Gerald married Judy Markham and have two children, Kimberly and Daniel*. They live in Cadillac. Albert married Lola McKinnon (deceased) and later married Ann Belleau. Albert died in 1970.
DAVID and Amanda Fleming Rye had the following children: Stella, Edith (Mrs. Elmer McDowell) Hester (Mrs. Herbert Hope), Alice (Mrs. John McKee of the Sault), and Llovd. Lloyd married Fannie Hill and their children were Shirley (Mrs. Marvin McDowell), Richard, Harry, and Jim.
ALBERT (1874-1946) and Mildred Haines Rye (1882-1931) had five children: Meta (1904-1926), Sara, John and his twin brother who died a few days after birth, and Oscar. Sara married Clive Sawyers and has three children: Gayle, Marjean and Vern. Gayle married Richard Hillock, lives in the Soo and has four children: Ronald, Michael, Vernann Sue and Patricia Jean*. Marjean (Mrs. Dean Wise) has three children: Kaye, Alan and Lori*. They live in Pickford. Vern lives on the home farm at Donaldson and is married to Wanda Cruickshank. Their children are, Jeffery, Steven and Douglas*. John married lsabel Harrison and they live on the former Albert Rye farm. They have one daughter, Wava (Mrs. Ronell Leach) who has three children: Melanie, Timothy and Lennae*. Oscar married Lillian Bumstead, lives in the Soo and their children are James, Constance and Oscar William. James married Marsha Morrison. He is a Major in the Army and making it a career. Constance married James Trettin and their daughters are Kristin and Kathleen*. Oscar William (Bill ) married and is employed by the Michigan Civil Service Commission in Lansing. Albert, Mildred, their infant son, and Meta are buried in Cottle Cemetery.
GEORGE and Margaret McDonald Rye farmed on the old home place. Their children were Charles, Clarence Henry (Hank), Eldred, Vern, and Elsie(deceased). Charles married Alma Little and their children are Roy, Jean and Loreen (twins), and Fred. Roy married Louise Kennedy and they have four children: Mike, Dan, Kennedy, and Jenny*. Clarence married Marion Catt. They have four children, Reginald, Dean, Margaret, and Sharon. Reg married Ruth Ann Neuenschwander and their children are Bradley, Amy, Elizabeth Katherine and they live in Hemlock, Michigan. Dean married Willa Hanison and their daughters are Kari, Lisa, and Jennifer*. Margaret married Ralph Andrzejak and their children are Steve, Debbie, Ken, John, and Tracy*. Debbie* married Rick Rye, great grandson of DAVID RYE, and they have a daughter, Tanya Sue**. Sharon married Rick Schwarz and they live in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, with their children, Kirk and Angela Marie*. Eldred married Beatrice Batho and they had five daughters: Donna (Mrs. Duane Clegg) who has four children; Sandra (Mrs. Fred Sill) who has three girls; Marsha (Mrs. Joe Woods) who has two boys; Patricia (Mrs.James Strickler) who has two boys; and Betty (Mrs. Gerald T. Harrison) who has Rhonda and Mike* and lives in Pickford. Vern married Thelma Anderson and they have two children, George and Marilyn. George is married and has one son, Vern, and Marilyn is married to Marshall Crisp and they have a daughter, Melissa*. Elsie married Cecil Ames and they had two daughters and three sons, Arvid, Duane, Robert, Shelva and Kathleen
The only ones left in the area bearing the Rye name are: Charley and sons, Roy and Fred; Eldred; Clarence Henry and sons, Reginald and Dean; Vern and son, George (Members of the GEORGE RYE family). Joseph, Isaac and son, Donald; Leonard and son, Glenn (Members of the HILLARY RYE family). Lloyd and sons, Richard, Harry, and James (Members of the DAVE RYE family). FRED RYE's son, Howard, still lives in Pickford on part of his father's farm. John and Oscar, sons of ALBERT RYE.
The following has been selected from Richard Rye's Diary by Alice McKee: He kept this diary from 1864 to 1910. He died in 1913 and these diaries are in the custody of Vern Rye who lives on the farm Richard Rye cleared, homesteaded, and started. They are on loan to Alice Rye McKee, daughter of David Rye. Having read over 25 years of the diaries, she says, "I have come to certain conclusions about this old gentleman, my grandfather, Richard Rye, and I will note them here."
He, with 13 of his 14 children, came to Pickford June 13, 1879. They arrived by boat in the Soo from the port of Goderich, Ontario. It was told me many years ago, in talking to an aunt of mine, that when all of their belongings were loaded on the wagon trucks (neighbors had come to help and to loan their wagons and teams) and the stock was started down the road, near Clinton, Ontario, that Grandfather stopped the procession, got out in front of it all, took off his hat and did a dance and sang a song in farewell, because these people didn't want him to leave. Ifeel this showed his enthusiasm and determination which are also shown in many ways throclghout the diaries. And two characteristics apparent in most of the grandchildren are the same determination and enthusiasm, plus stick-to-it-iveness. I found a happy, contented, helpful, and kindly nature throughout. So many people came first before mealtime and stayed for dinner and most often, tea. He never seemed to go - there was always someone at his house. The older girls, Eliza (Mrs. Isaac McDonald) and Martha Mrs. Tom Morrison)did the baking and he was always buying "flower" (flour). Grandfather was an excellent writer, but his punctuation and spelling were different.
He had many trades, abilities, and capabilities. To nafi.e a few: he was a farmer first, then a cobbler, and had a room in the upstairs of the house full of his equipment. He mended, soled, half-soled, heeled, toe-capped, and patched shoes. Many times he "mended Mrs. Pickford's slippers, 15C ." People from all over came to get their shoes mended, even people from the Soo had him mend their shoes. He mended the harnesses and made certain parts of harnesses for everyone. He built a shed near the house later to carry on this work in. He Most of the farms there were surveyed under his supervision. He noted he had been to Wises, Rutledges, Cleggs, Will Young's and many others. He measured and surveyed most of the first 3 or 4 miles af the Town Line. He made fences, both rail and wire, for himself and others. Also bridges and culverts. He made axe-handles, shovel handles, fire shovels, rake and hoe handles, whipstocks, buckets, handles for pails, well curbs, barrels, and also wagons and machinery, shoed horses, surveyed land, helped dig wells. Then he got a threshing machine and for many years threshed for people for $10 a day. He taught his boys and girls many of these trades. Later it was noted that Ruth (Mrs. Jack Stirling) moved her lasts (for shoe repair) and equipment to her home. The Hancock femily carried on the threshing business.
As the boys got older, they each in turn went out on their own and had farms along the Town Line. Sam, Jim, and Mary had gone back to Canada. Sam and Jim returned to the Soo and Sam became the blacksmith at the Carbide plant, retiring in the late 30's., but was shot in a hunting accident about November 1917, over the chores at home. The boys were all 30 years or older when they married.
Jim had a sand and gravel The younger ones then took business.
Grandfather killed beef, pigs, and sheep for himself and others and salted much of it. He also took it to the Soo, Hessel, DeTour and many camps for sale. When animals were born, he was the doctor for many years. People came to get his help. Sometimes the young ones died, but more often, he saved them.
There was constant activity about the place. Every night after tea, someone of them went to the corners (Pickford Village) for the mail. They were planting, harvesting, hauling logs, lumber, hay, grain, potatoes, turnips, and sometimes exchanged it for flour.
He won many prizes at the Fair on his wheat, oats, barley, turnips, potatoes, and beets which were displayed by the bushel or in boxes. Yet there was always time for picnics, box socials, dances, lectures, library and especially church, Sunday school, and prayer meeting during the week. They'd quit their haying or harvesting and go to a picnic at Blair's School or Roe's School, as all others did, and have a great afternoon of races, horseshoe-throwing, pie-eating contests, swinging, etc. An elderly lady who knew my grandfather told me many years ago that these occasions always waited until he arrived - then the fun began. He whistled and sang for them and engineered the races and contests.
In his diary there were no ill words toward anyone. He seemed always to have an office of some sort: School Board Inspector for years; Township Board member for years and yeats in some capacity; Justice of the Peace; Notary Public; Agricultural Society Director; taking subscriptions for the FARM JOURNAL for years. He went to the library quite often for books to read. It seems he was the one who got the first school and church buildings started in Pickford. They had met in Pickford's barn for church, Sunday School, and prayer meetings, but by the end of 1879, Grandfather had them building the school and next year, the church. The family attended church and Sunday school in Clinton the Sunday in June before they left and the next Sunday in Pickford and they very seldom missed from then on (only in bad weather or due to illness). This was morning and evening. They always took their company with them. Grandfather even read the services one Sunday evening in the absence of the minister because of bad weather. This was Jan. 25, 188.
He was quite exacting about time, a thing he taught his children and they, in turn, taught theirs. I can see this trait in the grandchildren, never to be late. "Don't keep anyone waiting, you'll impair the program or procedures. It's impolite to come late. Let people know if you can't I find these characteristics in myself and see them in my brother and sisters and my Also, "Keep your promises and don't promise if you can't do it and be honest." He wouldn't make a statement unless he was sure of what he was saying.
His mail was very important to him. He subscribed to THE DEMOCRAT, THE FARM JOURNAL, WOMAN'S JOURNAL for the girls, regularly and THE TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL much of the time and the Montgomery Ward catalog.
He was always ready to help the sick or to help at funerals. He made coffins for children and helped to dig the graves. He started the organizing of the Pickford Fairgrounds and those elected to the first board are noted later in this excerpt. Here are some exact quotes from his diaries:
June 13, 1872 Mary, Jim, Eliza, Rich, George, Albert, and Hannah went out with Henry Pickford. (Hannah was about 6 months old.) Self, Fred, Sam, Hillary, David, Martha, and Ruth started with cattle. Got to Stevens and stopped allnight. (Remember, this was a corduroy road known as the Mackinaw Trail and the last group walked and drove the cattle.)
June 14 Got to Pickford. Rain. Put stove up and stopped at little house all night.
Sunday, June 15 Boys and girls went to Sunday School. Walker and children came. Curry came in.
June 16 Made trip to Soo for groceries. Boys started to grub out brush.
June 19 Mr. Pickford helped look for lots. Sam and Fred helped. Went to Soo and got pigs, drove them home.
June 23 & 24 Planted potatoes.
June 30 Planted more potatoes and put up bedstead. Sunday, July 6 All went to meeting in Pickford's Barn. Boys and girls went to Sunday School.
July 11 Went to find place for house.
July 28 Partly raised house.
July 29 Finished it.
August 1 Fred, Mary, Eliza picked berries.
August 2 Put rafters on house.
August 4 Made a ladder to work on house.
August 9 Left for Goderich.
September 6 Went to cemetery (to see grandmother's grave, I think.)
September 24 Bought chair for little Fred Hancock.
September 30 Ellen's baby (Jim Hancock) was born. (he had gone back, I think, to be there for this event, knowing the boys could finish the house and move it.)
October 21 Started home, due to bad weather arrived at Soo Oct. 27.
November 19 Sam went back to Canada.
November 25 Planted apple trees.
November 27 Jim, David, and girls cut logs for flooring.
Wednesday, December 10 David, Mary, Eliza, and Martha went to prayer meeting.
December 15 Sent letters to Ellen, John and James Rapson and Grandad by Phil Rapson when he went to Soo. (Grandfather was a good writer and kept up his correspondence and wrote letters for other people.)
December 30 David and I cut wood for church.
January 1, 1880 A group of 7 boys and 7 girls went for sleigh ride in evening. David, Martha, Ruth, and little ones went in afternoon.
January 20 I, Hillary, and David cut wood for church.
January 25 I read one of Talmadge's Sermons to a full house at Church meeting. Hillary, David, Eliza, Martha, Rugh and I attended.
Sunday, February 1 Called quarterly meeting at Sunday School. Trustees to church, was to get one of joists for church.
February 28 Made applications for 4 lots.
March 29 Started hauling rafters for church and making maple sugar.
April 14 Fred and Jim finished sawing joist for church.
October 6 Fred and Hillary worked on church
November 9 I worked on Church.
Monday, January 31, 1881 I witnessed deed for Mr. Wise. Friday,
March 11 Paid Emma Pickford $4.25 for schooling.
April 11 Jim worked on church.
December 14 Called school meeting.
February 15, 1882 School meeting. gough, A.Crawford, and I to choose sight for school building.
March 6 Got shingles for school building
March 11 Hauled 2 loads of lumber for school.
March 15 Hauled rafters for school and 1 stick of timber. 1/2 day work.
March 16 Went to Printzler Bay for a load of lumber for school.
June 28, 1892 Ruth and George came home from the Soo at 4 a.m. Hillary, David, Fred and his wife came in the forenoon. We all started after dinner to Watsons. Hillary was married this afternoon. All got tea at Watsons. We all got home just at dark. (Hillary married Jenny Watson and spent the next three days in the Soo on his honeymoon. He had a house built on his farm two miles west of Pickford to take his bride to.)
So I feel Grandfather Rye raised a family who are the salt-of-the earth type of people, like most of the people in and about Pickford area. Ready to give and help wherever they are. Each of and families had contributed to t~aeir community and their country in many ways. There are many farmers among them and teachers, merchants, doctors, businessmen and women, and many who have held offices locally, including one who was a State Representative in Michigan (Clayton Morrison) and one who was recently elected a Member of the Ontario Parliament, Dr. Charles MacIllveen. We are now on the 6th generation of the Richard Rye family.